No Need to Worry
by Professor Agumon
Summary: Dawn comes out to her mother. Appealshipping (Dawn X Zoey).


Dawn Berlitz had been trying to come out to her mother all week.

Zoey had come out to her parents months ago, and they had been accepting. Ever since, Dawn had been working up the courage to tell her mother. She had tried to figure out her mother's feelings about LGBT issues by trying to "accidentally" pick movies with queer characters for their weekly mother-daughter movie nights. She'd spent countless hours watching coming out videos on YouTube, and she'd even gone all the way to the Canalave Library to read some books on the subject.

She was going to do it the night she returned from Snowpoint City after a weekend with Zoey, but her mother had had Professor Rowan over for dinner, and it hadn't felt right to tell her then. The next day her mother had made plans with Kenny's mother. The day after that, Johanna had a stressful day at her Coordinator school, and Dawn didn't want to stress her out further.

She'd found excuses like this all week, and now it was her last day at home and she still hadn't told her mother. She had decided she'd do it tonight after the movie. She had rented the perfect movie about a lesbian coordinator for the occasion. When her mother came back from the Coordinator school, Dawn moved to turn on the movie, but was quickly interrupted by Johanna.

"Wait, Dawn. I don't really want to watch a movie tonight."

Oh no. She had probably had another hard day at the school. Dawn couldn't tell her now it wouldn't be right.

"Let's have dinner and talk. I feel like we haven't had the time to catch up all week."

Dawn breathed a sigh of relief, but also felt a tinge of panic because now she had no reason not to tell her.

"Okay mom." she said, trying to sound casual, as she brought the take-out she'd ordered to the table.

"So how was your weekend with Zoey?" asked Johanna. "Did you two do anything fun?"

Dawn stiffened slightly at the question. She'd spent most of the weekend gathering courage for what she was about to do, and asking Zoey's parents for advice on how to talk to her mother.

"Oh we went to the Snowpoint Temple." she said, after a pause. "There were some interesting pillar formations and old statues. Zoey told me a folktale about a legendary pokemon sleeping deep inside the temple."

Technically, this wasn't a lie. Dawn did, however, forget to mention that they'd only gone to the temple to get some privacy Zoey's four nosy siblings.

"So how is Zoey doing? You seem to compete against her in almost every contest I see you in these days." asked Johanna.

"She's good. We actually try to enter the same contests on purpose. We try to keep each other on edge so neither of us gets any easy wins." replied Dawn. She knew that now was the time to tell her mother, while they were still talking about Zoey.

"I'm glad that you two have such a healthy balance between your rivalry and friendship. You should invite her over the next time you're in town."

Suddenly, Dawn's resolve wavered. Her mother saw Zoey her relationship with Zoey as this ideal friendship/rivalry, and Dawn realized she didn't want to shatter this image. Dawn thought she could handle her mother disapproving of her sexuality. After all, she'd spent her entire life trying to live up to her mother's legacy, and she was used to falling short of that ideal. However, if her mother wasn't accepting of their relationship, it would change her opinion of both Zoey, and Dawn's relationship with Zoey, which Dawn wasn't ready to handle.

"Is something wrong, Dawn?"

Dawn stopped fiddling with her fork and looked up. Her mother had noticed the conflict on Dawn's face, which must have been pretty apparent. She shook her head weakly, still trying to decide if she was willing to risk telling her mother.

"Dawn, I know you've been trying to tell me something all week." said Johanna, with genuine concern. "Does it have something to do with Zoey?"

"Don't worry about it, mom." said Dawn. But even as she said those words, she knew that her mother did worry. Ever since she and Zoey had started dating, Dawn had been distant with her mother, and she doubted that this week was the first time she'd noticed.

"Actually, there is something I need to tell about Zoey. About me and Zoey." Dawn paused, not knowing the right words.

"Whatever it is honey, you can tell me. I won't be upset. If you're in trouble I'm always here to help you."

"No, it's not like that, mom. I'm not in any trouble." said Dawn, who had lost the ability to make eye contact with her mother.

"Then why is it so hard for you to tell me?" Johanna moved closer, and held one of Dawn's hands.

"I...feel like I'm disappointing you? And that this will change your opinion of me and Zoey?"

This was it. She had come this far, and it was probably impossible to go back now. But every time Dawn opened her mouth to say the words, she couldn't do it. She felt tears stinging her eyes as the silence dragged on, and she knew that if she said anything, she would start sobbing.

"Honey...do you like Zoey?"

The surprise on Dawn's face followed by a child-like vulnerability answered Johanna's question. Johanna offered her a kind smile, which made Dawn break down in sobs, and nod slightly in response to her question. Johanna got up and embraced her daughter, letting her cry as long as she needed to.

"You...knew?" said Dawn, wiping tears out of her eyes.

"I couldn't be sure, but yes." replied Johanna. "Remember honey, I watch all your contests. When you two are out there performing...it's like you're performing for each other. I let myself believe that that was just platonic, but I think I knew I was just fooling myself."

"Are...are you mad at me, mom?"

"No, of course not sweetheart. Why would I be?" answered Johanna, as if the idea were ridiculous.

"I don't know. You've always wanted me to be exceptional, mom. Live up to the Berlitz name. And you just said you wanted to see my relationship with Zoey as platonic. You wanted to believe we had the perfect rivalry and friendship and this ruins that."

Johanna listened to her daughter's anxious rambling, and realized that she'd kept this bottled up for a long time.

"Honey you being straight has never been a requirement for continuing the Berlitz legacy. I want you to be an exceptional coordinator, but that doesn't mean I want you to not be gay. As for you and Zoey, now I believe you have the perfect rivalry, friendship, and relationship. You make each other better, Dawn, both on and off the stage. I'm proud of you for having found such a partner, and I'm sorry I made you think you couldn't tell me about her."

Dawn looked at her mother with relief, feeling as though a great burden had been lifted from her shoulders. She had spent months worrying that her mother would be disappointed in her when she came out, and she didn't know how she would have dealt with that disappointment. Instead, she now saw genuine pride in her mother's eyes, and she had never felt more grateful for her perfect mother.


End file.
